Triacastela to Sarria

Thank God today was uneventful, because yesterday, like I said, was enough for two days.

The boys had planned to walk at 4am. CHRIST. I don´t understand how they´re doing their Camino...they´re pushing 50ks in a day, just to get it over with, just walking to walk, and not seeing a thing, in my opinion. A lot of men do the Camino this way, I think. I don´t understand. They can walk it however they want, but Christa and I think they´re missing the point, and we´re glad we have the freedom to walk it like women and take our time and look around.

4am didn´t happen. It did for Malek...he was gone when it was still dark. The rest of us laid around till 7:30. The goal today was Sarria...a big enough town that we shouldn´t have the problem we had the night before in Triacastela.

Turns out Patrick and Kasey Kahne were sick...heat exhaustion and upset stomachs. They decided to take the bus to Sarria today. Christa and I just shook our heads...we think they´re pushing themselves too hard and are now paying the price. But we were happy they´d be at the same destination tomorrow; otherwise, we would´ve lost them again right away.

So Christa and I headed out. We took the long route to Sarria, through Samos, site of one of the oldest monasteries (5th or 6th century) in the Western world. It was a beautiful walk, through forest paths and heavy mist...in fact, I thought we´d get our first real rain today. But we didn´t, and we covered 10k before breakfast (which was more like brunch).

Morning, pre-breakfast k´s don´t count. Nothing hurts and all you´re thinking about is a cup of tea...they´re free and easy and the more you can do, the better. Once you stop, each restart is harder.

We thought the second half of the day would pass more quickly. It didn´t. We were on narrow highway shoulders almost all day...getting blasted by truckers doing 90mph on turns and not changing to the opposite lane when they saw us coming on the shoulder. We finally followed some dubious fletches off the path and soon found ourselves in largely unchartered territory...not in our books, no idea how far to Sarria. We ended up following the Río Sarria through a wood along a river...a walking course with PT obstacles set up along the way. It was beautiful; Christa loved it. But we were both out of water and soon I was out of sorts.

After forever, we made it to the town and began the 3:30 hunt for albergues. We found them.

And they were all full. And the hospitaleros were, again, NO help. I wanted to throttle them.

So here I sit, in the upstairs internet café of the bar where we found Felix and Patrick and Yasmeen...Kasey Kahne has a fever of 40C...and Christa went to find a hotel room. She´s come back and gone...found a quad for €75, which is great as long as we can find two other homeless pilgrims to split the cost. Shouldn´t be a problem. I have to go soon to find the Hotel Roma. But at least we have a roof for tonight.

The Camino is no longer a game. Suddenly the road is glutted with people who have just begun, and albergues fill up by 10am. Those left over are left to fend for themselves like dogs fighting for a scrap of meat in a cage. I´ve been warned not to let the final stages of my Camino disintegrate into a mad, pre-dawn dash for beds, but it´s a nerve-wracking thing now, wondering how far you can make it before it´s too late to get a bed, and being at unfriendly nighttime altitudes. I don´t know how the next few days will play out, so if I don´t post, it´s probably because I´m sleeping under a bridge. Ha ha. I doubt it´ll be that bad, but it won´t be as cheap as it´s been till now, even if we do get albergue beds (they are more expensive now). The good news is that we´ll be in Santiago on Saturday and the final stage will begin...Finisterra...Madrid...and home next Thursday.

What a day. Off to find the hotel.

By the way...my pinkie toe has exploded and shed the old bubble like a snake shedding its skin. It´s kind of gross and fascinating at the same time. Unfortunately, I had a moment of stupidity, and after popping the new blisters on my toes (one under the shedding skin, one beside it) I put lotion on them. Cross your fingers that that doesn´t come back to bite me in the ass....

Oh, and gastic problems STILL continue, as if this weren´t enough fun....

Christa has been asking for more suffering; she thinks she hasn´t suffered enough.

Now, we both are.